With increasing interest in global environmental preservation and ecology, there is an increased need for reusing or recycling various commonly used and non-biodegradable objects, for example, plastic storage bags typically utilized for food storage. Many of these plastic storage bags and other non-biodegradable objects are also expensive, which further creates an economic incentive for their reuse. After such a storage bag is used, it may be washed or rinsed for reuse. Effective evaporative drying generally requires the storage bag to be positioned with its open end downward, to aid the evacuation of excess water and to prevent pooling of water in the bottom of the bag. The extreme flexibility of the bag's material makes sustaining it in this position difficult. Moreover, the wet sides of such a washed or rinsed plastic bag tend to stick together, typically precluding evaporation of remaining water and potentially encouraging the growth of molds, mildew, bacteria, or other possible pathogens.
While turning bags inside-out may improve the drying of the wet sides, the bags are typically damaged in the process, particularly the corners and seams of the bags, rendering them unfit for continued use. In addition, both the inside and outside of the bags must be dried, essentially requiring two separate drying cycles (both inside-in and inside-out). As a consequence, various devices have been created to maintain bags in an open position to allow passive (i.e., evaporative) drying in one or more drying cycles, or for placement and stability in a dishwashing machine with active, heated drying and/or subsequent evaporative drying.
The evaporative drying devices of the prior art, however, have various problems associated with their typical use, such as in a kitchen environment. The associated drawbacks include, among others, requirements for supporting bases, complicated manufacture and assembly of many parts, required use of limited counter space, difficulty storing the device, lack of suitable surfaces for suspension, and required user involvement throughout the drying process. For example, Crutcher U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,542 discloses an adjustable plastic bag dryer which must be supported from below, such as by a kitchen counter. Such a dryer is impractical when kitchen counter space is limited, which is very common. In addition, the adjustable plastic bag dryer of U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,542 requires the manufacture and assembly of many separate parts, at considerably increased expense. It further requires a supporting base, which must be physically separated from the remainder of the apparatus for compact storage, increasing the likelihood of the loss of requisite parts and making storage of the device problematic and impractical in a typical home.
Another prior art drying device disclosed in Gyr et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,752 has a complicated structure of hangers coupled to a moveable “dilator ring”, which maintains the hangers in an open position for placement of bags over the hangers for drying. This complicated structure is difficult to manufacture, requiring “frustro-conical” holes to be drilled within the dilator ring, with additional machining and assembly of many separate parts, at considerable expense. The drying device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,752 also performs comparatively poorly, because it is designed for one wall of a bag to rest along the length of a hanger, which results in excessive contact and blocking of airflow to the bag, thereby requiring a user to repeatedly change the position of the bag for adequate drying. In addition, in operation, this device is unsuitable for drying bags of different sizes, either not holding larger bags open sufficiently, not providing sufficient air circulation for drying, or not providing suitable support for smaller bags. This complicated device is also unsuitable for drying of other types of objects, such as gloves or hats. Lastly, this device is comparatively heavy and bulky, and accordingly cannot be hung from most supports typically available in a kitchen, such as a cabinet handle, resulting in required use of a supporting base and corresponding counter space in actual operation.
Another drying device of North et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,076 provides for a magnetically suspended plastic bag dryer, having two nested, rotating rings to hold a bag in an open position, attached to a magnet for suspending the bag from a ferromagnetic surface. Most modern kitchens, however, with wood or laminate cabinets, matching wood or laminate panels for appliances, and stone, composite or laminate counters, have very few ferromagnetic surfaces. Such ferromagnetic surfaces are generally limited to certain types of refrigerator doors and sides, which are typically already covered with notes and photographs, for example, which would typically be damaged by contact with a wet surface of a drying object. In addition, such surfaces are vertical; the device of North et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,076 would then require that the bag be suspended either sideways or from the side, decreasing its effectiveness and allowing water to pool within the bag or drip down the side of the refrigerator or onto another surface. Other potential ferromagnetic surfaces in a modern kitchen would include under-cabinet lighting, which would be unsuitable for suspending a wet bag, due to heat and electrical considerations. In addition, the ring structure of North et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,076, even when in a closed or nested position, is also comparatively bulky for storage. For example, ring structures large enough to support a sizable plastic bag would not fit or would use excessive space within a typical kitchen drawer, making storage of the device impractical.
As a consequence, a need remains for a passive drying apparatus which provides for significant air circulation for readily drying an object, such as a plastic bag or an article of clothing, and which requires no user involvement during the actual drying process. Such an exemplary apparatus should be able to be suspended from many types of supports, and while it may also be operable with an optional supporting base, it should not require such a supporting base and use of limited counter space. Such an exemplary passive drying apparatus should have very few parts, should be comparatively easy to manufacture, and should be comparatively inexpensive for a consumer to purchase. An exemplary drying apparatus should provide for ease of storage in a typical kitchen environment, and be adaptable for myriad uses, such as the drying of bags, gloves, hats, and other garments or articles. In addition, an exemplary drying apparatus should have embodiments available which are aesthetically attractive, such that consumers are willing to have them on display when in use for drying.